European Voice ten years ago

With the European Commission attacking practices ranging from centuries-old banking laws to new ecologically-motivated road levies, Austrian love for the Union is currently hitting an all-time low.

European Voice

4/19/06, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/12/14, 12:29 PM CET

The Commission is engaged in three formal procedures against Vienna, calling for the abolition of Austria’s popular anonymous savings accounts, the withdrawal of a toll increase aimed at reducing road freight through the Alps, and a change in its public procurement practices.

But Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky’s coalition government is coming under massive popular pressure to resist the onslaught from Brussels in two of the issues at the centre of controversy.

Austrians have been allowed to have anonymous savings accounts for the last 200 years, and now perceive the authorities’ acceptance of hidden cash as a basic civil liberty. This has prompted Vranitzky to declare that such accounts are “part of Austria’s savings culture” and to insist that the Commission’s complaints “do not hold water”.

Equally strong cries of outrage have been prompted by the Commission’s call for the Vienna government to repeal a drastic increase in the tolls levied on the Brenner motorway. The toll increase enjoys strong support throughout the country, especially in the Tyrol province.